Young Moscow Jew Murdered Trying to Stop Brawl

A young Moscow Jew was murdered this past weekend when he tried to stop a brawl between two Gentile gangs.

Hana Levi Julian, 21/05/12 20:15

Yaakov Manasharshivili, z'l

courtesy of Chabad.org

A young Moscow Jew was laid to rest Sunday after he was murdered this past weekend when he tried to stop a brawl between two Gentile gangs.

Yaakov Manasharshivili, 26, became embroiled in the gunfight on Friday, according to a statement issued by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. He was shot at point-blank range as he tried to intervene, the organization said.

The murderer fled, Moscow Police Commissioner Vladimir Kolokoltsev reported, adding that he was confident more leads would turn up in the coming days.

It was not the first such case this year.

Last month, on the holiday of Pesach, a young Jewish man was critically injured during a brutal assault in Kiev, Ukraine. Medical teams who responded to the scene reported they found the boy lying bloodied in the street and raced him to the hospital. He was reported to have been unconscious and required the use of a respirator.

ZAKA representative in Kiev, Jacob Silberman, told Arutz Sheva's Russian department on April 9, "after the Second Seder the young man was jumped by a group of people, not far from the synagogue." "The neighborhood is not new to violence," stressed Silberman. "A few years ago a Jewish boy was attacked in the same place."

Born to a traditional Georgian Jewish family, Manasharshivili was active in the local Georgian community. He served as a counselor at his local Chabad-Lubavitch center in the Khamovniki District of the Russian capital.

His funeral was attended by numerous members of the community on Sunday, including Jewish community officials and Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, who participated in the burial.